1970: Japanese SW
Face Expedition led by the seventy-year old veteran Saburo Matsukata.
A massive expedition with 39 climbers, seventy-seven Sherpas and a woman, Setsuko
Watanabe. Unable to improve on the previous year's
reconnaissance efforts due to poor snow conditions and
rockfall, the expedition switches to the standard South Col
route. Teruo Matsuura and Naomi Uemura reach the summit on May
11, followed by K. Hirabayashi and Chottare
Sherpa on the next
day. Watanabe sets an altitude record for women by climbing
to the South Col.

Chottare was a Nepal Army Officer. He
lived in Namche Bazaar Solukhumbu. He was the 27th person to Summit
Everest and died in 1997 in Namche.

For much more on the
Sherpas of Everest. You can order Tashi
& Judy Tenzing's new book Tenzing Norgay and the Sherpas of
Everest
here